Building brick



ecu 10, 3935.

v. A. BARNHART 2,023,987

BUILDING BRICK Filed Oct. 10, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEI\ITOR VfR/V Aflmw/MT Dec. 1% 1935. v BARNHART 2,923,981?

BUILDING BRICK Filed Ot. 10, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR VHF/V A59mm) ATTORNEYS CAI Patented Dec. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES vPATENT OFFICEBUILDING BRICK Vern A. Barnhart, Jester Lake, Milton, N. J.

Application October 10, 1933, Serial No. 692,951

4 Claims. (01. 72-37) My invention relates to building bricks and moreparticularly to bricks used in the construction of walls to form afacing or, an exposed surface'thereof. Experience has demonstrated thefact that in standard brickwork water and moisture easily enters themasonry and results in injury and damage of varying degree and at alltimes harmful and injurious. It has further been shown that the verticaljoints in such standard brickwork are seldom completely filled withmortar, this being due to the time required by the bricklayers to effectperfect filling and the resulting high cost of labor, and to thetendency of the mortar in the vertical joints to drop and shrink in itswet condition and thereby produce open vertical joints which, because ofthe staggered setting of the bricks, lie over and above the customaryflat surfaces of the' bricks below. When water or other moisture,whether wind driven or not, finds its way into such open verticaljoints, it very readily and quickly finds its way to the interior of thewall. It is further true that the bonds between the mortarand the bricksin adjacent courses, as far as being watertight, are defective, andresult in cracks and crevices between bricks and mortar when the lattercontracts as it sets, through which water and other moisture easilyenters the wall. Because of these major faults ordinary bricks ofexisting type are losing and have lost their popularity particularly asfacing materials and are being constantly replaced by substitutes. Theobject of the present invention is to overcome the aforesaiddifficulties and disadvantages and to provide a brick of novel formdesigned to deflect and conduct such water or other moisture as may seepinto the wall, in a manner to cause it to promptly run offandout and notinto said wall. Other more specific, objects of the invention willappear from the,;description hereinafter and the features ofnovelty-will be pointed out in the claims.

limits, Fig. l is an end view of a stretcher brick embodying the novelfeatures; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a header brick including saidnovel features; Fig. 3 is a perspective View on a reduced scaleof thebrick shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a special form ofsaid brick; Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary sectional viewsillustrating examples of walls including the novel bricks, and Fig. 8 isa face view of a section of one of the wallsshown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

'Thenovel bricks inall of their formsmay be made ,in: accordance withstandard dimensions or any special sizes as may be required and in-'clude opposedparallel vertical faces and parallel top and bottom facesextending in oblique relation to said vertical faces. In the stretcherbrick A shown in Fig. l the top face l and the bottom face i I extend inoblique relation to the vertical side faces 520i the brick, it beingunderstood that the opposite end faces of said brick may be of anycustomary form or special shape as may be desired or found necessary. Inthe 10 header brick B shown in Fig. 2, the top face Ill and the bottomface I I extend in oblique relation to the end faces l2 of said brick,the side face of the latter being of any customary or special form asmay be desired. While thebricks illustrated in Figs. 1, and 2 are notaccurately drawn to any particular scale, the arrows a and b inconjunction with the dotted lines 0, d, indicate diagrammatically thepitch of the-respective faces Iii-l I, Ill -l I; it is to be understoodthat the degree of pitch of the faces mentioned is always sufficient tocause water or other moisture to easily flow-downwardly along the topsurfaces H] or M In order to prevent thenovel bricks from slipping uponthe mortar'beds when the latter are in a wet condition, thebricks may insome instances be provided with-recessesor apertures l3. whichin theillustrated example extend vertically through said brick as indicated inFig. 4. When the-bricks provided with such apertures !3 are laid uponthe wet mortar the latter will enter'said apertures l3 toformprojections or keys which positively prevent any shifting of saidbricks relatively to themortar.

As shown in Figs. 5, 6,7 and 8, the novel stretcher bricks are laid inthe customary manner in superimposed courses with side faces I2 of saidbricks A located in vertical alignment to form the outer surface of thewall, the latter being provided at intervals with the novel headerbricks B 40 having one of their end faces Hi located in the plane ofsaid outer surface of the wall in registry with the previously mentionedside faces l2 of the stretcher bricks A. The novel bricks A and B mayalso be used to build other partsof the wall which also may includehollow tile as indicated at C in Fig. 7 and header bricks D of customaryform as indicated in Fig. 6. If the bricks are used in the constructionof parapet walls, the latter may be crowned or topped with copings E ofsuitable form as illustrated in-Figs. 5 and 6. As clearly shown in Figs.5, 6 and '7 when the novel bricks areembodied in the wall, the uppersurfaces it of the stretcher bricks and Ill of the 'llflollcri bricks,slope downwardly toward opposite exposed surfaces of the parapet wallsshown in Figs. 5 and 6 and toward the exposed surface of the wall shownin Fig. 7. The bricks are laid in the customary manner with the verticaljoints F in one course staggered relatively to the vertical joints F ofthe next adjacent course as shown in Fig. 8 so that the sloping uppersurfaces In or ll] of the bricks always lie beneath and in registry withsaid vertical joints F as indicated in said Fig. 8.

It will be obvious from the illustrations in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and. 8 thatany water or other moisture which may penetrate through defectivevertical mortar joints F will naturally pass downwardly to the uppersurface Ii or Ill of the next adjacent brick located immediately belowthe same, and because of the downwardly sloping tilt of such uppersurface, will be deflected thereby toward the outer surface of the walland thus quickly disposed of, without harm or injury to any part of saidwall; the same is true of any water or other moisture which may passthrough defective or leaky horizontal joints G.

In the building trades it is a well known fact that the three mostserious problems facing the architect, owner and builder are first, whattype of brick and mortar to use in order to secure the most'watertightresult and the desired permanent beauty; second, after the brick andmortar has been selected to determine which of the various existingexpensive methods of water and damp proofing to use in order to protectthe plaster and costly interior decorations against leakage due tofaults in said brick and mortar both before and after the building iscomplete, and third, what type of wall flashing to use at necessarypoints to protect outside trim against discoloration from moisture andthe iron girders and spandrel beams which abut exterior walls againstinjury from water and moisture which may seep through.

Exhaustive tests involving over three hundred panels and requiring morethan two years in its completion made at the Mellon Institute ofIndustrial Research, the report of which entitled Watertight brickmasonry was published in The Architectural Record of September 1931,clearly showed the seriousness of the problems above referred to. Thisreport among other things stated that even with impervious brick andwatertight mortar it is not always possible to secure a perfectly tightwall because of the human element involved in bricklaying. Therefore,for walls exposed to severe conditions, provision should be made indesign to allow rapid removal of any moisture that does get in. Thisrequirement is clearly met in a most efficient manner by the novel brickdescribed herein. The novel brick is particularly adapted for thebuilding of parapet walls which, experience has shown, are mostsusceptible to injury and disintegration because of the entrance ofwater or other moisture. With the novel brick set forth herein thearchitect, owner and builder, without loss of valuable time, may selecta brick of any desired color which is structurally satisfactory and beabsolutely assured of the driest possible masonry wall without anyadditional cost over an ordinary brick wall, thus saving the cost of andnecessity for expensive water and damp proofing of exterior and interiorwalls and costly flashings,

all of which are now necessary. With the novel brick, it willfurthermore be unnecessary for the contractor to return time and timeagain to locate and repair leaks and. to redecorate. and repair injuriesresulting from leaky walls as is now universally the case wherever wallsconstructed of ordinary brick or with ordinary brick facings aresubjected to the effects of water or moisture; as a result of this,disputes and lawsuits between architect, owner and builder will beavoided with a resulting great saving of time and expense.

In many existing building operations it has been customary to have weepholes at each floor to line in the brickwork for the water which entersthrough imperfections therein to run out; this water in such casesgenerally runs down the back of the brick facing to the floor line sothat this method produces unsightly results in addition to beingexpensive. With the novel brick illustrated and described herein eachbrick is designed to quickly shed water or other moisture and prevent itfrom penetrating to the rear of the brick facing and to quickly removeany water that may get into the wall and thereby prevent said water fromcollecting on the inside of the wall. In practice the novel brick willfimction perfectly in combination with ordinary bricks of existing typeand will make it possible, in masonry walls which are two or threebricks in thickness, to incline the bed joints of two courses bothdownwardly and outwardly or with three courses, to have two inclineddownwardly and outwardly in one direction and one in the otherdirection. If it is desired to use plaster on the one side of the brickwall, the novel brick may be laid at random and a rough or keyed wall beproduced without difliculty. The novel brick is further particularlyadapted for the building of the side walls of natatoriums which havealways presented a difl'icult problem to the architect desiring to usebrick in the construction of such side walls; in such cases all coursesof the bricks could be inclined toward the interior off the natatoriumor the novel brick may be used for one exposed face course of such wallsand ordinary bricks for the other courses if desired. The novel brickreferred to herein, by inclining all horizontal joints, enables flashingto be builtil; in the form of an outwardly inclined joint and therebyobviates the possibility of leakage in the wall at these points.

In addition the novel brick does not require any costly or radicalchanges in present day to manufacture and permits brick plants usingwire cutting machines to simply cut on the bias instead. of straight,and to require the factories using molds simply to provide new moldsconstructed to the design of the novel bricks, the manufacturing processotherwise remaining the same as for ordinary bricks now in use. Whenlaid in a wall the faces of the novel bricks are identical with presentday standards excepting that at the jamb or returns where wind drivenrains may reach to the back of the brickwork, the horizontal bed jointswill be slightly inclined downwardly toward the exterior. Because ofthese inclined mortar beds impervious bricks of the novel form, that isthose with an absorbtion of less than approximately eight percent, maybe provided with the apertures or recesses l3 shown in Fig. 4. When thenovel bricks have an absorbtion of greater degree than that indicatedabove. the ordinary suction of such bricks is all that is required toproperly bed said bricks and prevent them from slipping in inclinedmortar beds. It will be understood that the apertures l3 shown in Fig. 4may be replaced by mere surface recesses and that the upper and lowersurfaces of the novel bricks when highly impervi ous to moisture may beroughened to effect the same stability against slippage. No particularskill beyond that required of the present eilicient bricklayer isnecessary in the laying and manipulation of the novel brick illustratedand described herein. The novel form and construction of the brick setforth herein does not require the brick to be laid in any specialmanner, and enables both faces of the brick to be used in buildingconstruction in the same manner as an ordinary brick.

In some cases it may be sufficient to utilize a header brick of thenovel type only at predetermined intervals in a wall, which otherwisemay be constructed of ordinary brick or in any other existing manner.

It is to be understood that the novel features may be incorporated inbuilding blocks not commonly referred to as bricks and that the termbricks as used herein is intended to include such blocks.

Various changes in the specific forms shown and described may be madewithin the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A wall including a plurality of upright columns of stretcher brickslaid in superimposed courses, at least one of said columns forming anexposed upright surface of said wall, said stretcher bricks in said oneof said columns consisting of vertical faces located in the plane ofsaid exposed surface, and top and bottom faces extending in obliquerelation to said vertical faces, the upper faces of said stretcherbricks in said one of said columns sloping downward toward said exposedsurface of said wall to deflect moisture on said stretcher bricks towardsaid surface, and header bricks located at intervals between courses ofsaid stretcher bricks and projecting across two adjacent columnsthereof.

2. A wall including a plurality of upright columns of stretcher brickslaid in superimposed courses, at least one of said columns forming anexposed upright surface of said wall, said stretcher bricks in said oneof said columns consisting of vertical faces located in the plane ofsaid exposed surface, and top and bottom -faces extending in obliquerelation to said vertical faces, the upper faces of said stretcherbricks in said one of said columns sloping downward toward said exposedsurface of said wall to deflect moisture on said stretcher bricks towardsaid surface, and header bricks located at intervals between courses ofsaid stretcher bricks and projecting across two adjacent columnsthereof, said header bricks consisting of vertical faces located in theplane of said exposed surface and extending in oblique relation to saidvertical faces, the upper faces of said header bricks sloping downwardtoward said exposed surface of said wall to deflect moisture on saidheader bricks toward said surface.

3. A wall including a plurality of upright columns of stretcher brickslaid in superimposed courses to form opposite exposed upright surfacesof said wall, said stretcher bricks consisting of vertical faces locatedin the respective planes of said opposite upright surfaces, and top andbottom faces extending in oblique relation to said vertical faces, theupper faces of said stretcher bricks sloping downward in oppositedirections in the respective columns toward said opposite uprightsurfaces of said wall to deflect moisture on said stretcher brickstoward said upright surfaces, and header bricks located at intervalsbetween courses of said stretcher bricks and projecting across adjacentcolumns thereof with the end faces of said header bricks in therespective planes of said opposite upright surfaces of said wall.

4. A wall including a plurality of upright columns of stretcher brickslaid in superimposed courses to form spaced upright surfaces of saidwalls, at least one of said surfaces being exposed, said stretcherbricks consisting of vertical faces located in the respective planes ofsaid spaced upright surfaces and top and bottom faces ex. tending inoblique relation to said vertical faces, the upper faces of saidstretcher bricks sloping downward toward said exposed surface to deflectmoisture on said stretcher bricks toward said surface, and header brickslocated at intervals between courses of said stretcher bricks andprojecting across adjacent columns thereof with the end faces of saidheader bricks in the respective planes of said spaced upright surfacesof said wall, the upper faces of said header bricks sloping downwardtoward said exposed surface to deflect moisture on said header brickstoward said surface.

VERN A. BARNI-IART.

top and bottom faces"

